From Air Cadet to Air Traffic Control: Ian’s Journey in Aviation
My life in Aviation
My dad introduced me to aeroplanes as a small boy. By age 5 I was plane spotting and soon after I began aviation photography. I spent a brilliant 7 years in Air Cadets, experiencing powered flying and gliding, and only left went I went to university and joined Liverpool University Air Squadron based at RAF Woodvale.
On the squadron I gained around 70 hours in the Grob 115E Tutor, trained to solo standard in aerobatics and did some instrument flying too. I would recommend the UAS to anybody joining university and has an interest in flying or the military.
Post UAS life, I worked within Aviation Security at Manchester Airport before landing a career with NATS as an Air Traffic Control Officer. 6 months of full time study and really hard work at the ATC College in Hurn, Bournemouth saw me graduate with a Student ATCO licence, allowing me to live train on unit at London Terminal Control Centre in West Drayton, London where I went on to validate my ATCO licence on Stansted Radar. (More on ATC life in a future blog!)
As part of my NATS training I was fortunate enough to receive 10 hours of fixed wing flying, which was completed at Wycombe Air Centre in the Cessna 152 and 172 and with my prior experience involved some more instrument flying.
After this I didn’t fly for around 15 years due to work and home life. In the world of ATC, I validated my approach radar endorsements for Luton Radar and Heathrow Radar, and was promoted to a Group Supervisor in the Terminal Control Ops Room, along with being the training manager on watch for around 5 years.
An offer of a local passenger flight from my now friend, ‘Coepilot’, made me realise how much I’d missed the flying. Within a few months, I’d signed up with my local flying school, Phoenix Aviation at Lee on Solent to get me back into the air ASAP. As my flying hours were so historic and I’d never actually completed my PPL, the NPPL (M) on the C42 was deemed the fastest option to get me signed off. As it turned out, my flying instructor was an ex-Heathrow Radar colleague that had recently retired, and this made the learning much more enjoyable, already having common ground and things to chat about.
Since passing my NPPL (M), I’ve built around 200 hours in microlight aircraft, completed my tailwheel conversion in a Eurofox at Popham with a fantastic instructor at Airborne Aviation, and I now co-own a Kitfox Mk2 taildragger which I fly out of Lee on Solent. I’ve also completed my NPPL (SSEA) training in a PA28 at Lee on Solent, but I much prefer to fly the much more agile microlight aircrafts, and I’m ticking off as many farm strips as I can!
What do I love about microlight flying? The freedom, the responsiveness of the Rotax engine, the agility of the sub 600kg aircraft, and the ability to get in and out of places that would be impossible in most traditional Group A aircraft. I love farm stripping, and a good fly in. Having attended so many events as a kid with my dad as an enthusiast, I love being on the other side and now being able to fly in myself.
One of the major cons of the microlight aircraft that I fly is that they’re not really built for touring. You’re limited with the MTOW on the older C42 models and certainly the kitfox, and the luggage space is much to be desired. I’ve managed a couple of days away camping in the C42, even with 2 persons on board, but the kitfox really is a solo machine when wanting to fly and camp.
Newer microlights in the 600kg category are exciting and offer much more performance and luggage capacity but will set you back a few quid!
What’s next for me? I just love flying and sharing my passion for flying with other people. Being part of the Pooleys Ambassador Team has allowed me to do more of that, as well as introducing me to a great group of people in all different areas of aviation. I’m always toying with the idea of a new aircraft, something a bit more tailored to long weekends away comfortably with luggage, whilst offering similar levels of performance to the microlights that I currently fly. I’d also probably quite like to be an instructor one day. Instructing is something that I’ve done for many years in the world of ATC, and I’d love the chance to transfer some of those teaching skills to the cockpit. I’m also excited to see what the forthcoming licencing changes will mean, and how I can make best use of those to convert my NPPL to PPL and build my qualifications!